ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
181 
Traumatropic Movements of the Nucleus and of Protoplasm.* — 
Dr. A. Nestler states that movements of this nature are very frequent 
in the vegetable kingdom. They were observed in various organs in 
Phanerogams and in Algae ; the nucleus and protoplasm moved towards 
the side of the cell which faces the wounded surface. The maximum 
irritation usually takes place in two or three days. The newly occupied 
position may be permanent, or the nucleus and protoplasm move back 
to their previous position. This traumatropic sensitiveness admits of 
no mechanical explanation, but appears to be a property of living proto- 
plasm. It may extend to a distance of 0 * 5-0 * 7 mm. from the wound. 
The nucleus sometimes swells to an abnormal size. 
C4) Chemical Changes (including Respiration and Fermentation). 
Formation of Starch in Chromatophores.f — From observation and 
experiments made on a variety of plants, Herr H. Winkler has come to 
the conclusion that the chloroplasts, not only of leaves from which the 
starch has been removed, but also, with certain exceptions, those of other 
plants, in whose leaves no starch is found in the normal condition, can 
produce starch out of organic nutrient substances conveyed to them ; 
and that this capacity is not lost by etiolated leaves. In the autumnal 
decay of foliage it may be retained as long as the stroma of the dis- 
organising chlorophyll-grains remains intact. The leucoplasts which 
are found in the various tissues of plants, as far as they do not yet con- 
tain starch in the normal condition, possess, with a few exceptions, this 
capacity when treated with sugar. It appears to follow from this that 
the formation of starch is, at least originally, a special function of the 
chromatophores of the higher plants. 
Formation, Storage, and Depletion of Carbohydrates in Mono- 
cotyledons.:]: — Mr. A. Parkin finds the amount of starch produced by 
normal assimilation to vary greatly in different plants, and to have some 
relation to the form and distribution of the leaves. Inulin is not un- 
common in many genera of Monocotyledons, e.g. in Scilla nutans and 
Galanthus nivalis ; inulin and starch may co-exist in the same cell. 
Inulin is never produced by aquatic species. 
Formation and Transformation of Lecithin.§ — Herr J. Stoklasa 
states that in lupins kept in the dark, the decomposition of albumin, the 
formation of asparagin and glutamin, and the decomposition of lecithin, 
take place not only in the leaves, but also in the root-tubercles. Lecithin 
is always an accompaniment of the albuminoids, and is decomposed as a 
consequence of the darkening of the green leaves. The formation of 
lecithin and of the albuminoids depends on photosynthetic assimilation. 
In Fungi these substances are formed in a different way. 
Indigo Fermentation || — According to Prof. H. Molisch, the trans- 
formation of indican into indigo-blue in Indigofera is not due, in the 
* SB. k. Akad. Wiss. Wien, July 7, 1898. See Bot. Centralbl., Ixxvi. (1898) p. 42. 
t Jahrb. f. wiss. Bot., xxxii. (1898) pp. 525-56. 
X Proc. Roy. Soc., lxiv. (1898) pp. 122-3. 
§ Hoppe-Seyler’s Zeitschr. f. Physiol. Chernie, 1898, p. 398. See Bot. Centralbl., 
1898, Beik., p. 202. 
|1 SB. k. Akad. Wiss. Wien, July 7, 1893. See Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr., xlviiL 
(1898) p. 361. 
